Whatcom County Council members were left in the dark about allegations of sexual harassment levied against a former public works director and a resulting $225,000 settlement, according to three current members.
County Executive Satpal Sidhu, in a new letter to council members Tuesday, accepted responsibility for the handling of the incident and confirmed that council members were not part of the process.
The former director, Jon Hutchings, resigned from the position in the midst of a sexual harassment investigation by the county in October 2022. The settlement was paid in November 2023.
Council members said they were unaware of the incident, and the payout, until last week when a story was published by Cascade PBS.
“I was not made aware of this information and had no knowledge of it until recently when a constituent emailed a copy of the Crosscut [Cascadia PBS] article to the entire Council,” council member Tyler Byrd told Cascadia Daily News.
The investigative story details the county’s actions before and after a third-party probe into allegations that Hutchings made sexual comments to one employee and inappropriately touched another in the workplace. The story said internal records revealed multiple women accused Hutchings of inappropriate conduct.
In the letter to council members, Sidhu confirmed on Tuesday that he did not bring the issue before the council but instead worked alongside the county’s human resources and legal teams to ensure county policies and procedures were followed.
“We acknowledge that Council did not participate nor make decisions on the outcome of the situation outlined in the recent article. The Executive, through HR, Legal, and staff is in charge of making personnel decisions and ensuring policies are followed. We take this responsibility very seriously and I want to assure you that the unique facts of the situation and timing of decisions played a role in how it was ultimately handled. Always with the goal of supporting staff and the county as a whole,” Sidhu stated in the letter.
Instead, the county helped Hutchings secure a new position with a glowing “letter of introduction” to the City of Lynden, where Hutchings now works as the public works director.
“I would like to call attention to Mr. Hutchings’ work to advance meaningful changes within our county organization,” Sidhu wrote in the letter. “Jon envisioned a Public Works Department positioned to successfully deliver services twenty years in the future and engaged his employees to identify, prioritize and address barriers to achieving that success.”
The county’s outside investigation was never finalized and “absent a response” from Hutchings, the county declined to issue any findings, according to a letter sent to Hutchings on Feb. 20, 2024, from the county and obtained by Cascadia Daily News.
In his prepared letter to the council Tuesday, Sidhu stood by the content of the Hutchings letter of introduction, which he called a “difficult” decision.
“Ultimately, we do not believe that a person is solely defined by their mistakes, and Mr. Hutchings had faced the very real consequence of losing his job,” Sidhu stated. “We understand that not everyone will agree with our decision.”
Hutchings was confirmed by the Lynden City Council as public works director in May 2023.
On Tuesday, Lynden City Administrator John Williams said the city was not aware of any allegations against Hutchings until it was first reported by Cascade PBS.
“The City hired Mr. Hutchings in June 2023, following a thorough hiring and background check process. This process included background checks conducted by both internal and external agencies. No indications of any misconduct allegations against Mr. Hutchings were found in any of the background checks.”
“Since then, the City has learned that an investigation and review was recently concluded by the County, which found that Mr. Hutchings did not violate County policies against sexual harassment,” he said.
A ‘Name Clearing Hearing’
Tuesday’s letter from Sidhu detailed the county’s actions after the executive office learned of the allegations.
He said when the office was made aware of the complaints, “we took swift action.” Hutchings was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 18, 2022 and an independent investigator was retained by the county. Once the investigation was completed, the county adjudicated the complaint.
After receiving multiple public record requests in 2023 targeting material related to the allegations, the county invited Hutchings to participate in a “Name Clearing Hearing.”
Hutchings’ comments in the hearing on Jan. 31 were later described in an email from the county to him as “impactful”, “meaningful” and “emotional.”
“You told us in detail about many issues you were contending with in your personal life throughout all times relevant to the allegations,” the email states. “If the County would have been aware of those circumstances in your personal life, when they were occurring, the County would have provided you typical employee support in the form of professional employee assistance services and options for a leave of absence.”
Hutchings comments were found to be “mitigating,” though not entirely so. Based on the evidence presented, the county determined that he was in “some degree” of violation of its code of conduct. However, the email stated that there was not sufficient evidence to rise to the level of harassment.
“We now consider the complaints levied against you to be resolved,” the county stated in the email.
The November settlement, paid with money in the county’s Tort fund, was authorized by the prosecuting attorney’s office, confirmed the county. The county manages liabilities with other counties through the Washington Counties Risk Pool and the settlement was within Whatcom’s $250,000 deductible.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
